March 2019

The current President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, enacted into law a new national minimum wage which came into effect on January 1, 2019.The new rate is 20 Rand per hour and is meant for employees of all industries except domestic workers and farm workers.

The National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA) may have triggered amendments to other laws such as the Labour Relations Act (LRA) as well as the Basic Conditions Employment Act (BCEA), with the most significant change being the introduction of Parental and Adoption leave.

The Balanced Employment Act seeks to bring some equilibrium between permanent and flexible employment contracts in The Netherlands, thereby introducing amendments to benefit both employees and their employers.

On Tuesday, February 5, 2019, the Dutch House of Representatives adopted WAB (Wet Arbeidsmarkt in Balans) – referred to in English as the Balanced Employment Market Act. The bill is now expected to get to the Senate where, if passed, it would take effect from January 1, 2020.

For a long time, whistleblowers all over the world have received inadequate protection, especially at the government level. Europe is planning to change that trend.

So, who is a whistleblower? A whistleblower is an individual who exposes any form of activity or information that is considered unethical or illegal within the confines of any organization.

Therefore, whistleblower protection is very important when it comes to revealing and preventing wrongdoing at major institutions. Panama Papers, Cambridge Analytica and Luxleaks are examples of scandals that were caused by a lack of transparency, and have subsequently been able to demonstrate how whistleblowers can play a significant role in uncovering activities that damage the public interest and welfare of citizens and society.

This is exactly how the European Commission explains the reasoning behind their proposal for the development of new standards to enhance whistleblowing activities as well as to protect whistleblowers.